Matt 19:13–15 — Do Not Hinder the Children

Children and the Kingdom

Last week we looked at Matthew 19, one through 12, which is Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce. We noted that the context of this section of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 19 and 20, is about the teaching of Jesus concerning the counter-cultural values of the kingdom of God under the shadow of the cross. I add that last part under the shadow of the cross because Jesus has now finished his ministry in Galilee, and he is now making his journey to Jerusalem. You’ll notice that we’re almost at the end of the gospel story. It feels like, well, it’s still chapter 19, but if you notice, in chapter 21 is the triumphal entry. into Jerusalem, and that’s what sets off Holy Week leading to the cross and resurrection of Christ. So in these two chapters in 19 and 20, just before the triumphal entry of Jesus, Jesus is giving some teaching to the disciples about the counter-cultural values of the kingdom under the shadow of the cross. Some of these counter-cultural values would include his teaching on marriage and divorce, The Jews at the time thought that divorce was a right, and of course they debated the different conditions under which divorce would be allowable.

There were the stricter party of the Shamaites who said only for sexual immorality. There was the looser, more majority opinion of the Hillelites who said that one could divorce one’s wife for any reason whatsoever, even if she put too much salt into the food.

And Jesus here is responding to this debate and saying, no, the Lord didn’t give you a right to divorce because if you go back to the creation account, when God created man, he created them male and female. And he said that, therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, shall cling to his wife, shall be glued to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. And so Jesus is giving a countercultural teaching here about marriage and divorce. He does recognize that divorce does happen, that the marriage bond can be broken through persistent, unrepentant, marital unfaithfulness, but that is because of the fall, that God’s ideal at creation is that marriage is a one-flesh union created by God himself. and therefore it is not something that we can easily and lightly separate.

We do not have the right to divorce. So he’s teaching a counter-cultural message here that the disciples are having a hard time with. You can see that by their reaction in verse 10. If such is the case of a man with his wife, then it’s better not to even marry.

And so Jesus here is confronting the disciples with a new teaching that helps them to see the values of the kingdom of God are different from the values of the world. Now we see the same idea that the counter-cultural values of the kingdom are being brought to the disciples in a way that overturns their expectations in our passage today about the bringing of the little children to Jesus. When the children were brought to him that he might lay his hands upon them and pray, the disciples are thinking in worldly terms. They’re thinking, no, this isn’t appropriate.

Children do not belong in God’s kingdom. That is only for those who are older, for those who are wiser, for those who have some commitment, for those who are able to make a decision to follow Christ. And Jesus here then counters their thinking by saying, no, let the children come to me and do not hinder them.

For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. We don’t have time to get into it now, but if you keep reading in Matthew 19 and 20, you see that Jesus continually makes this same countercultural argument. The story of the rich young man is the next paragraph that we’ll be looking at next week. And the disciples had a very earthly, worldly view that they thought that the wealthy, who are also godly, are particularly blessed by God as a sign of God’s favor toward them. But Jesus says, that it is actually with difficulty that a rich person will enter the kingdom of heaven. And he concludes Matthew 19 with these words, many who are first will be last and the last first.

Now, one thing that we need to ask ourselves is why is this particular paragraph about the children coming to Jesus, why is it found right here where it is found? What is the connection between this story of the children coming to Jesus, the disciples rebuking them, and then Jesus turning against the disciples and saying, no, let the children come to me? What is the connection between that and the previous paragraph about marriage? Well, it is actually quite logical. It’s a very appropriate place to deal with the status of children in God’s kingdom because the essence of marriage is that it is a one-flesh union oriented toward having and rearing children.

Now, Jesus doesn’t specifically mention that part about how it’s oriented towards children, but it’s implied by the way in which Jesus goes back to the creation account In Matthew 19 and verses 4 and 5, Jesus quotes from Genesis 1 and 2. He brings two verses together. He brings together the verse in Genesis 1, verse 27, which says that God created man, male, and female. in his own image, but he brings that verse together with a verse in the next chapter in Genesis 2, verse 24. That’s the one he quotes there in verse 5 about the two becoming one flesh. And so Jesus here is alluding to this whole creation account.

And it’s not an accident that the issue of children is clearly in the peripheral vision of this passage, because right after where it says in verse 27, God created man in his own image, male and female, he created them, the very next verse is Genesis 1, verse 28.

And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, have children. And so this idea that marriage is a one-flesh union that’s oriented towards having children is part of the definition of marriage. The essence of marriage is that it is a one-flesh union oriented toward having and rearing children. And that’s why it’s appropriate and logical for Jesus and for Matthew the narrator to address the question of children right after addressing the topic of marriage.

It’s really interesting if you look in the book of Genesis, this command to be fruitful and multiply, to procreate, to have children, this command is found three times in the book of Genesis. And each time that it’s found, it’s found in a different covenantal context. There are three different modes of the mandate to be fruitful and multiply. The first mode of that mandate is before the fall as part of the covenant of works. Before sin had even entered into the world, this was part of what God had ordained for Adam and Eve before the fall. that they would be fruitful and multiply. That’s the first occurrence of the Be Fruitful and Multiply command.

But after the fall, it is found two more times, but in different covenantal contexts. After the fall, it is repeated as part of the common grace covenant in Genesis 9, verse 1. This is after the flood, when God makes his covenant of common grace with all of creation. both believers and unbelievers, and he repeats this mandate to be fruitful and multiply.

That means that even unbelievers are to get married and have children. This is part of what God wants for the human race, even after the fall. And he’s promising in his common grace to bless this process of marriage and having children, and to use it for his common grace purposes, to provide a context for the work of his special grace through the covenant of grace. But even unbelievers can have children, and even unbelievers can participate in this command to be fruitful and multiply.

But there is a third occurrence of this command to be fruitful and multiply in the book of Genesis. This is in Genesis 35, verse 11. Again, after the fall, but now as part of the covenant of special grace with his people. This occurs in the context where in the story of Jacob, where Jacob is meeting God for the second time at Bethel. Remember, his first time meeting God at Bethel was when he was still not yet fully conscious of the promises of the covenant, and he was pursuing his own path in life. having engaged in deception and stealing the inheritance and the birthright from his brother and so on. But now, after his trials and tribulations, he comes back to Bethel a second time in Genesis 35.

And God said to Jacob, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply. And now within the context of the covenant of grace, we see that there is a special particular purpose for marriage and having children, and that is to be the vehicle through which God will fulfill his plan of redemption. You might think, well, but in Genesis 35, 11, it’s just talking about creating this large nation, the people of Israel, they’re going to come from Jacob, he’s going to have his 12 sons and so on. And you could think of that purely in a physical sense as the being fruitful and multiplied to create the nation of ethnic Israel according to the flesh, but it is not only to be restricted to that level. There is also the special purpose of God in producing a godly seed.

We see this in Malachi chapter 2 in verses 14 and 15. This is a very important passage in the Bible concerning God’s teaching on marriage. It says, the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

Did he not make them one, alluding back to Genesis 2.24, did he not make them one with a portion of the spirit in their union, and what was God seeking? What was God’s purpose in taking the man and the woman and making them one? He was seeking godly offspring. Malachi 2, verse 15. God is seeking godly offspring.

He is, through the covenant of grace, taking this mandate to be fruitful and multiply, which existed before the fall as part of the covenant of works, which was also reissued in common grace mode for all people, even unbelievers, but now he’s taking that command and bringing it into the covenant of grace as an instrument of God for the production of godly offspring in order to save his people. Not only to be fruitful and multiply in the physical sense of creating the nation of Israel, but to be fruitful multiply in the spiritual sense of seeking godly offspring. God is using marriage and procreation as an instrument within the covenant of grace in order to save his people and to create his spiritual nation that is the Israel of God.

And we see this carried over into the New Testament as well. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 14 says that the children of believers are holy in a covenantal sense. And we also have the words of our Lord himself in our text today, that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the offspring of believers. So let’s look at our text then today. The passage is very simple, it has four parts.

First, the children are brought to Jesus. Then the disciples rebuke them, then Jesus responds in their defense, and then he lays hands upon them. So first, the children are brought to Jesus. It says, verse 13, then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

The word children in Greek is a word that can refer to children of any age from infancy up to before puberty. Interestingly, in the Gospel of Luke, Luke, in his parallel text, uses a different Greek word that actually means infants. And so we can assume then that the children in our text were not nine or ten years old, but they were probably much younger. This is confirmed by the fact that Mark, in his parallel passage, says that Jesus, after he rebuked the disciples and said, let the children come, it says that he took them into his arms, right? So, implies small children, or infants, as Luke says. Now, the text doesn’t say who brought them, but it seems logical to assume that it was the parents of the children.

They were doing what others had done in the Gospel account. Look in the Gospel of Matthew, and you can see other examples of parents bringing their children to Jesus. There was the ruler of the synagogue, whose name was Jairus, who brought his daughter to Jesus because she had died. There was the man who had a son who was cruelly tormented by a demon, and he brought his son to Jesus. And not only parents bringing their sick children, but even others would bring those who are in need of the healing of Christ.

Matthew 8 verse 16 says, that evening there were brought to him many who were oppressed by demons. And he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. There’s also the paralytic in Matthew 9. It says that some men brought the paralytic to Jesus.

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said, your sins are forgiven. The point is that in this passage here in Matthew 9, verse 13, when it says the children were brought to Jesus, we need to think about that in light of all of the other cases of people that were brought to Jesus throughout the gospels. This is more than simply people wanting to receive a physical and earthly blessing from Jesus. This is an indicator of their faith that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is the one who brings the blessings of God’s kingdom of salvation and grace.

This fits in with the language of Jesus himself when he says in Matthew 11 verse 12, from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force. We talked about that verse before that some commentators interpret that in a negative sense of maybe it’s referring to persecution or the opposition of the Pharisees or something like that. But I argued that if you look at the parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke, this is a holy violence. This is a blessed violence.

This is people seeking God’s grace, seeking to come to Christ and to receive his forgiveness and his grace. Here the parents want their children to receive a blessing from Jesus. They are seeking God’s grace. They are coming to Jesus in faith to receive his saving grace. The disciples respond to this by rebuking the people.

The disciples assumed that striving to enter the kingdom was only for adults who are serious about their faith. Perhaps they thought of it as their own example, that they are serious-minded disciples who are striving to enter the kingdom, and they’re following Christ, they’ve left their nets, they’ve left their careers, and they are seeking Christ. Or perhaps they’re thinking of the example of the rich young man in the very next section, a rich young ruler who is striving with spiritual earnestness, coming to Jesus and saying, what good thing must I do to enter eternal life? Interestingly, the disciples themselves probably need to think back upon their own history because when they were first called, when they were out there casting their nets, were they striving? Were they showing some great effort and some serious spiritual zeal for Christ? No, Jesus came to them in his grace and called them to himself. And they, of course, began to learn more and more as they followed Christ, but they did not come to Christ on their own initiative.

Perhaps they should have remembered that and remembered that the same is true even of these children, even of these infants. Perhaps they argued that these are just infants. They’re too young to understand anything about what it means to be a disciple or to be a part of the kingdom of God. The disciples are thinking in a worldly way. They hold to conventional values commonly held by most Jews, just as they thought that marriage is for a man’s benefit and that he ought to be able to divorce his wife for any reason whatsoever. So also they thought that infants and small children aren’t important and have no need of Christ’s blessing and that it wouldn’t be appropriate anyway for them to receive the blessing of Christ. Well, that brings us into the fourth part of the story.

Jesus responds in defense of the children and their parents. Jesus said, verse 14, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. Jesus makes this profound theological statement about the fact that the children of believers actually are appropriately brought to Jesus because they belong to his kingdom.

The kingdom is for them. The language there of, to such belongs the kingdom of heaven, it’s the same construction in Greek as the statement of Jesus back in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus gives the Beatitudes, and he says things like this, Matthew 5, verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That language of theirs is the kingdom of heaven is the same language that he uses here. Do not hinder the children for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It belongs to them. It is perfectly appropriate that they will be regarded as participants and partakers of his kingdom.

And then finally, the fourth part of the story is that Jesus then laid his hands on them. The laying on of hands is an Old Testament practice. It goes back to the book of Genesis. For example, Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, in Genesis 48, and he did so by placing his hands upon them. Jesus also did this practice of laying hands upon people quite frequently in his healing ministry. He laid hands upon the leper. He laid hands upon Jairus’s daughter and raised her from the dead.

The idea of laying on of hands involves a prayer for God’s blessing upon the recipient. In Matthew, it doesn’t mention the prayer or the blessing, but it is mentioned in Mark 10, the parallel passage in Mark. He took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. And this is not to be understood in some sort of merely fleshly or external sense, as if Jesus is simply praying that they will have good health or that they’ll grow up to be upstanding citizens. No, this has to do with the blessings of the kingdom. Calvin writes this, certainly the laying on of hands was not a trifling or empty sign. And the prayers of Christ were not idly wasted in the air.

For what did he pray for them? But that they might be received into the number of the children of God. It is a profoundly spiritual, significant event to lay his hands upon them, to pray for God’s blessing upon them. Just as Jesus himself said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Covenant Children and Baptism

This passage then sheds important light for us on the debate over the legitimacy of baptizing the children of believers. There are a couple of things in the passage that encourage us to make that connection, even though baptism itself is not mentioned here in the text. But number one, the first thing that encourages us to think that, that has relevance to the issue of baptism, is the very fact of laying on of hands.

The laying on of hands in the Old Testament symbolizes not only God’s blessing, but it symbolizes placing God’s name upon God’s people. For example, in Numbers 6, verse 27, after reciting the Aaronic benediction, the Lord bless you and keep you, it says, in this way, Number 627, the priest shall put my name upon the people and I will bless them. So the lifting up of the hands is a symbolic gesture of laying hands upon God’s people and placing God’s name upon them. And what does baptism symbolize but the placing of the name of the triune God upon us. As Jesus said, he commanded us to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

That is the first thing that gives us the opportunity to see that there is a connection in this text with the issue of baptizing children as well. But there’s another thing in the text as well that encourages us to make that connection. And that is this key word, hinder, that is used. Jesus said to them, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. Elsewhere in the New Testament, this same verb, to hinder, is used in reference to baptism.

For example, in Acts chapter 8, remember the story of the Ethiopian eunuch? who was riding on his chariot, and Philip the Evangelist came and preached the gospel to him, read to him that wonderful passage in Isaiah 53, and talked to him about Jesus and the Messiah. And the eunuch said, as they’re going along, look, here’s some water.

What hinders me from being baptized? What hinders me? That’s the same word that is used here in Matthew 19, verse 14. Do not hinder them. Baptism should not be withheld, should not be hindered from those whom God has indicated are members of the church.

We see this same word hinder used later in Acts chapter 10. This is in this story of the household of Cornelius. In Acts chapter 10, look at this passage, it’s so interesting. Verses 44 to 48, while Peter was still saying these things, he was preaching the gospel to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter, that is the Jewish Christians who had come with Peter, they were amazed because the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on Gentiles. Remember, the gospel had not yet gone out to the Gentiles at this point in the story. This is the first example of Gentiles being brought into the church. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.

Then Peter declared, can anyone withhold baptism? Can anyone withhold water? for baptizing these people, that word withhold is the same word, the word hinder. Can anyone hinder water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Notice the logic of what Peter is saying there. He’s saying, we know that these Gentiles, the household of Cornelius, we know that they are part of God’s people. We know that they are included in the kingdom of God because God has given them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Well then, if that’s the case, how can we withhold water from them?

Because all who are part of God’s people, all who are members of God’s church, they ought to have the sign of membership in God’s church. They ought to receive baptism. And so he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. So for this reason then, because of these words that are being used here, the idea of laying on of hands symbolizing the name of God being put upon the people, this language of do not hinder them, which is used in the book of Acts in reference to not hindering someone from being baptized, all support the argument that this passage is very helpful and relevant to the question of whether the children of believers ought to be baptized. And we can tie it back to what we said earlier at the beginning of the sermon about how it’s appropriate that this topic be raised right here in the context of this discussion about Jesus’ teaching on marriage. because he goes back to the creation ordinance of marriage and shows how it has been picked up within the covenant of grace as an instrument to seek a godly offspring. If Jesus said that the children of believers are members of his kingdom along with their parents, then we have no right to withhold the sign of membership in the kingdom of Christ. By embracing the children, Jesus made clear that he considered them to be a part of his church. Three applications from this.

First, let us bring our children to Christ for his blessing by presenting them for baptism. But not only that, but by teaching them the faith, by bringing our children to church, by including them in worship. And if you don’t have children of your own, you can also participate in this wonderful work of the church by helping in their instruction and catechizing them.

Second application, let us not hinder the children from coming to Christ by adopting the attitude of the disciples that children cannot be disciples. Let us not dismiss the immature faith and childlike expressions of faith that we see in our children.

Let’s not be bothered by children in worship, even if they sometimes make noise or interrupt. There are some churches that actively exclude children and say, no, no, no, they’re going to be a nuisance. So we’re going to send them off to a separate children’s church. We don’t want them to be here in the main sanctuary. Let’s not do that. Let’s foster an atmosphere of welcome that embraces children in our midst.

And even though we require children to make a profession of faith before they can have the privilege of participating in communion, when we do that, we’re not telling the children that they are outside of the church before that point. When a child makes a profession of faith, they aren’t becoming a member of the church. because they are already members. They are baptized members even before they become professing members. What we’re saying is that they need to mature in their faith to the point where they’re able to take that next step.

And then third, let us use the inclusion of infants within the kingdom of Christ as an object lesson for us. Infants remind us of the fact that we are included in God’s kingdom, in God’s grace, not because of our marvelous works, because we are such great disciples. but rather we are included by God’s prior sovereign grace reaching out to us and bringing us to himself. What better demonstration of the sovereignty of God in salvation, what better demonstration of the grace of God in salvation than the bringing of infants to the baptismal font to receive God’s grace before they can even understand it, before they can even do any great works of obedience to the Lord.

They simply receive the gift of God’s sovereign grace. And then as they grow, they learn more. They understand the significance of that grace and that salvation. And they learn how to be disciples of Christ. Just as our covenant children gradually learn about their baptism as they get older and learn the implications of it, learning what it means for their lives and how they should live as becomes followers of Christ.

So we as adults, find that the more advanced we become in the Christian life, we’re only discovering how weak and sinful we are and how much we need God’s grace. And then as a result of receiving that grace, we are then encouraged to live as becomes the followers of Christ.